The legend himself. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the XR Elite. Im keeping mine just for the future upgradeability of face and eye tracking plus Vives future trackers, but thats pretty much it. I really wanted it to to be good but it sadly just feels like a alpha product :/
there are still no budget pankake lens display port headsets. feels like a gap in the market. I wish HTC had made a htc vive 2 with pankake lenses (like pico 4) and display port
I know it’s frustrating, id love for mainstream UA-camrs to do it! I’d love to buy a graphics card based off VR performance. I do the same thing as jay and use my for sim racing on my sim rig.
I keep asking for this. VR benchmarks are so rare, they need to be a thing. Although it may be a small percentage, it's an increaseing technology that seems to get more popular, especially with the quest 2 that dominated the market since so many people (were able to) buy it.
I've got a Reverb G2 and a RTX 3090, have to dial settings back to get stable frame rates for sim racing. The running joke is nobody needs 8K gaming, sure, except for high end VR headsets that are somewhere between 4K and 8K in terms of pixel count. DLSS can't save us from older titles and foveated rendering mods don't seem to help my setup. Having a big youtube channel with the ability to try different hardware combinations would really help me buy a better setup with confidence. Right now all I know is the 4090 needs settings turned down for these headsets too. My cpu probably needs to change, it's a 3900X. But do I get a 5800X3D or do I need a 7800X3D? I don't know, I already paid for the best on offer when I built this PC, and it's not performing. So now I need upgrades waaaay before my usual upgrade cycle. I don't want to just throw money at the best without knowing for sure it will do what I want.
When you guys do reviews of these vr headsets I’d like to see you do it as a round table between the three of you, or at least Jay and Phil, so you get more than one head’s perspective on fit and comfort. Looking forward to Phil’s stand-alone though.
IMO it's kind of a clickbait title to proclaim he regrets buying it, without even using it and/or discussing performance. Plus why leave all the footage in about how it's uncomfortable , if it turns out he didn't have it properly assembled? He could have at least said whether or not he still preferred the Pro's fit. Edit: To the people claiming he did say if he preferred the Pro's fit, I'm talking about after he realized he didn't have the Vive setup correctly. He didn't state if that changed his opinion, even though that was specifically what he said caused him to prefer the Pro.
VR is very subjective, even when being objective. What matters to Jay, may not matter at all to you or I. IMO, we are at a point that every VR HMD offers something incredible, but it just depends on what that specific consumer is looking for in their VR experience. I'm a VR enthusiast and clarity is king IMO. Quality, ease of use and reliability is also key. I want the best of the best so I splurged for the Varjo Aero (currently 15% off) and the past 7 months of VR has been unlike anything I had experienced before. Every single time I use the HMD (which is every day for hours) I am blown away and have numerous "WOW" moments. I'm glad VR is here with edge to edge clarity and lifelike visuals. Hopefully this will be the normal sooner than later as it is truly special and can't wait for everyone to experience this.
I don't have an XR Elite but I do have the Quest Pro. I absolutely love this headset, my seventh HMD and feels like a massive upgrade over everything else I've ever used. I have a top strap from Creative Studioform that really enhances the comfort for me, out of the box it presses on my forehead a lot.
the one thing this headst shows, is the face interface is very important. this thing looks like crap and barely fits jays face. but a tailor made interface that fits perfectly, being standard for heasets would be a game changer. that needs to be an option on all headsets going forward.
@@ge2719 I was thinking the complany that Big Screen uses to make these custom gaskets could make a killing expanding to other headset face gaskets. Imagine having a custom gasket for your Quest 2! That would be sick! I would totally go borrow an apple ipad or phone from someone to scan my face one time to get one in heartbeat!
I'm still surprised that everyone doesn't love VR as much as I do. It's nothing short of the ability to go on a mini-vacation anytime you want. It's crazy.
@Smitty Vanjagermanjenson Im in the camp of the people that get sick but absolutely love it. I have an index and a large playspace to play in. Stuff like beatsaber I can play endlessly but like 20 mins of half life alyx has me out of action for another hour cause it made me so sick. Trying to get my VR legs hehe.
@@ashleyjohansson230 many do, that's true. There are MANY legit titles though, including HL:Alyx, MS Flight Sim, tons of great racing Sims, Population:One (battle royale shooter. SUPER FUN). Games like Stormland are crazy fun with the climbing and and flying mechanics! Lone Echo 1 and 2 are amazing and Echo Arena, which is sadly and STUPIDLY being shutdown by Meta, is an absolutely INCREDIBLE and totally polished VR experience (Think Enders Game and Tron had a baby and turned it into and Arena game.. SO AMAZING).
Interesting point. The biggest drawback for people getting into vr is always the price just for it to increase in price with each iteration of vr. Somewhat like gatekeeping or running away from a potential audience/demographics
Not sure why you think that. There are products at different price points, but the Meta/Oculus mainstream headsets have been selling for between $300 and $400 for a long time now. The Quest Pro is not a successor to the Quest 2, but a product for a different audience. The Quest 3 should come later this year for much less than the Pro.
Yeah price is a problem. But GPU prices are worse! What you are getting is getting better. Now really high end PCVR is costing a fortune, and PSVR2 looks like a bargain given the fidelity and features it delivers - and people were complaining about the price of that too! Everything is goin up! Arguably Quest 2 was the most accessible headset in terms of price, and still is.
Yup. Its part of my problem trying to figure out how to get out of my Quest 2. I want a higher fov. But also want a higher resolution but the headsets that have decent fov tend to have shit resolution. Or the headset has not so good reviews. Im struggling to find a set up that has what i want including all the tracking. It gets expensive. The Varjo headset peak my interest. But it also comes down to wires. I love not having to trip over cables. I did that enough before i got interchangeable batteries for my Quest
@@Spencer067 If you're fine with Varjo Aero prices, take a look at the Pimax Crystal, then. Seems like it'll be right up your alley once all the features are fully implemented, at least on paper.
My biggest problem is not the price at all, I would pay more but I have no interest in wearing a big ole goggle helmet to play video games. I won't even wear 3d glasses to watch a tv, that is too intrusive for me. Plus it's basically only good for racing/cockpit games and porn. I actually have a crazy sim rig and pc, but I play at 12+Nm... I have "wind simulators" (fans) blasting me while I play and it is still a super sweaty experience... that set of goggles would get so gross so fast. I would much rather just run 3 monitors than ever get vr, they're at least useful even when I am not playing games. I think motion control is largely gimmicky and stupid, either it needs to work like the matrix (good luck with that...) or be less intrusive than regular glasses, and short of that I will never be interested.
Quick note on the adjustable eye pieces for people with eye prescriptions: this can't work for you if you have astigmatism. You will still need to wear either glasses or some kind of prescription insert- if this headset can even acomodate that.
I've been very happy with my HP Reverb G2 for racing and flight sims for a long time now. It has a high resolution and good image quality and doesn't break the bank either. Sure, it isn't wireless, but for sims that isn't really important anyway as you remain stationary/sitting and use racing wheels/HOTAS etc..
Mostly agree: one small drawback to me is that inside-out tracking always limits the controllers movement somewhat. I was perfectly fine setting up the sensors in my room. One biggie tho: the headset wasn't compatible with my x570 Chipset when I bought it shortly after launch. I couldn't find any reason why the headset wasn't detected and there was no information (besides one reddit post I found about the same issue where they kinda guessed arround what it could be) to be found especially not from HP sooo...yeah that was frustrating. Nowadays I'm quite happy with it tho.
G2 is still a nice headset, I've had mine for two years. The Quest Pro is a substantial upgrade if you have the GPU to run it though. If you can imagine the G2 with its central clarity across the entire display, larger FOV, better colours and blacks, and no glare and godrays you basically have the Quest Pro. It's impressive how much pancake lenses can do to improve the visuals over fresnel.
I'm using Reverb G2 with Valve Knuckles, and it's great (because G2 controllers and their tracking is AWFUL). But sometimes this hybrid VR takes much time to setup it if something is not working properly xD
@Travis Clark with a setup like that you definitely want to upgrade your headset, either Quest Pro, Areo, Crystal or Bigscreen depending on what you do in VR. With these headsets we are definitely in the era of VR 2.0 now. Fresnel lenses are obselete at this stage.
The Pro and XR Elite, are headsets made for the non-existent (or barely if there is) "Commercial use", which also explains why the price only goes up. Headsets like THESE are why i think people say VR is dead or dying, because the Cooperates all try to force EVERYTHING to Commercial use, which no one wants. Because of this, the headsets fall flat on the people who actually use VR headsets. At least that's how I've seen it with the lil I hear or what-not, and its the Impression I have.
'Enterprise' headsets are used in many industrys, particularly medical and especially military. The only reason 'consumer' VR has become somewhat affordable is because 'enterprise' has been used for decades. However, I agree that the current lack of new titles is frustrating.
What did he mean by this 5:40? Quick latency compared to what? Wi-Fi? Since he did mention Wi-Fi 6. Or quick latency compared to other cables? What was he refering to when he said "quick latency"
I love my Quest Pro! The inside out tracking on the controllers is a game changer. Only drawback I have at the moment is the headset doesn't see the controllers anymore since the latest firmware update. Hopefully they get it fixed soon.
I really like that you review VR tech on your channel. It is still kind of a niche but hopefully will become more and more interesting for all gamers in the near future
Honestly, I think it's only niche due to the cost. Even a lower end headset costs almost as much as a game console, and some headsets don't include everything you need, so there's more expense. Plus, like Jay said, the cost keeps going up.
Honestly the worst part of VR for me was having to give it up because the headset belongs to my daughter and she needed it back.. I know Phil will agree with me when I say it makes a big difference to Elite Dangerous gameplay. I also miss playing with my Wall-E esque training robot, the butterflies in STEAM VR, my personal virtual workplace penthouse suite and having my own huge personal cinema.. :(
Just wanted add that VR is really important for seated simulations like driving and flying sims. I use VR exclusively for Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) and it's utterly amazing for that title (and things like MSFS 2020).
@@cyclechris6591 DCS is awesome, you'll really enjoy it in VR. Depends on your budget, but the best mid-range solution is the Reverb G2. If cost isn't an obstacle, the Varjo Aero and Pimax Crystal both provide superb high-end visuals. I'm not sure I can recommend the Quest Pro for DCS, but some do swear by it. If you want an Oculus headset, best to wait for the Quest 3 coming soon. The Index was a great option 3 years ago, but it's old and the resolution is too low for sims. I'll add that I'm a happy Reverb G2 owner, but I'm looking at the Pimax Crystal as a potential upgrade soon.
@@cyclechris6591 I've used both the Quest 2 and Reverb 2 for DCS. I'd say the Reverb 2 is the better choice in absolute terms, but I didn't consider it worth twice the asking price of the Q2. I got my R2 used from a co-worker who had bought a Pimax... so I basically rented it for a few months then sold it off for what I paid for it and held onto the Q2. (My kids started playing some of the games available directly from Oculus / Meta.) All that said, I went back to a 4k 120hz 48" pancake. While the 3D depth of field is truly impressive with VR, I just felt all the other compromises just weren't worth it... constant tweaking of tempermental software, crap framerates, very restricted field of view vs pancake + IR head tracking, soupy/blurry visuals when your eyes dart anywhere outside the relatively tiny sweet spot on the lens, a big boot strapped to your head gets tiresome during that 25 minute flight to the target... From my perspective, the VR tech needs another few cycles in the development oven. My recommendation to you would be to go cheap with the first headset... Q2 or R2.. can probably find piles of used ones for cheap. Take some time and gauge your level of motion sickness tolerance, get an idea for the performance you'll be sacrificing compared to pancake and then maybe upgrade to a higher end headset if you enjoy the experience. It seems to be an all or nothing situation with a lot of DCS players... many swear they could never go without VR and many can't handle all the jitters / stutters, reduced graphic quality and just general performance headaches. I'll likely jump back into the VR pool at some point, perhaps even with the Q3 depending on reviews / word of mouth, but more likely not until the 2024/25 GPU and VR releases when I'll upgrade the entire computer.
I have a HP Reverb G2 that I use for DCS. The biggest problem I have is I also have an LG C2 42" OLED as a monitor - and the VR headsets never look as good. So while the immersion and feeling of VR flying is pretty great, the flat monitor just looks so much better. I'm just waiting for the day of an affordable VR headset that can look as good as my OLED.
@@pr3d4t0r11 I do have an IR head tracker, but I HATE having to turn my head but keep my eyes forward. I bought the G2 and after being not as impressed with the image quality compared to my monitor, I returned it and got the IR tracker. But the IR tracker, having to keep my eyes forward when moving my head and not having that immersive 360-degree 1:1 just didn't hold a candle to the G2. So while the G2 isn't as good as I hoped in the visual quality and FOV, I prefer it to the IR tracker I got. So I re-purchased the G2 when it was on a ridiculous sale from HP. I think I got it for $300.
@@CybrSlydr Compared to my old tvs the LG is better in every way. I sometimes had to wait 2 minutes before the tv came on. Now it takes 3 seconds and I get all the apps I want. Its like when I got fibre internet.
12:41, it looks like thats a slit to attach the additional strap to. But I did not get enough of a view of the strap, maybe it doesn't fir through there.
Can't fault my Reverb G2 for now with a rtx3090. I only use it for sim racing and flight sim and I love it. I did gat a replacement face cover for increased FOV, and I use cable management pulleys, but it's good enough for what my hardware can deliver. For next gen VR it's going to be 50/60 series cards before we see massive improvements that are worth me paying for.
I have the same headset and gpu, but I have to turn my graphics settings way down to get stable frame rates. I gave up on a career mode save game as my wet/night settings were so low they looked like utter garbage in the day/dry. I think my cpu is the weak link, a 3900X, but I don't know what is safe to buy to get both good graphics and good performance. I've seen reviews that even the 4090 needs settings turned down. So, what cpu do you have and what compromises have you had to make with graphics settings?
I'm running a G1 and still there isn't any reason to upgrade. The resolution is unmatched for the price and gfx cards can barely keep up with that anyway. They're just tinkering with utility but hardly anything ground breaking, especially at those inflated prices.
Agreed If you’re only using it for sim racing you’re better off getting an HP Reverb it’s 4K and can get for cheap as HP are bowing out of the VR market
Regarding the headset not fitting your face - perhaps giving the beyond vr headset a try would give you a good comparison as to what's "possible" and what's "reasonable" for personalized vs mass consumer hardware.
Really liking the idea of easy to adjust PD as well as adjusting the lenses for a RX script. Although to be honest I just have magnetic clip on RX lenses in my Quest 2. I also see the HTC headset as a more premium level product vs the very budget friendly Quest 2 but it'd be awesome to not have to add additional thickness to the lenses to be able to see without glasses.
I was looking at this before but after everything you've said I'm so glad I went with the Pico 4 instead for like 1/3 of the price. Could literally get that and a 4070 for the price of an XR so the XR would need to have some pretty insane performance to justify the price.
If you wear glasses the Pico accepts magnetically attached prescription lenses so no need to cram in your glasses under the headset. Much more comfortable and you're less likely to damage your glasses or the headset lenses
I looked at VR stuff a few months ago and decided to get a Pico, because it looked like the best at the lower end. Unfortunately, their products aren't sold in the country I live in. Quest 3 looks good, but it also looks like the Pico would be better than that too.
@@ashleyjohansson230 That is my fear as well, but we keep finding small snippets that suggest they are working on a vr headset. Deckard and some patents etc, but it has been quiet lately.
Nooo everyone else is going to jump the gun on the bandwagon, we should keep this hidden and not make it entirely popular, although I know it be bad for business but still
The VR crowd would love more VR content. I'd love some content helping me determine my next GPU update, especially to match up to headsets using the XR2 gen 2 chips and AV1 when they start coming out later this year. I'm considering AMD seriously, but I've heard so much how AMD sucks at VR. It would be great to hear your perspective on how the modern GPU's compare at streaming PCVR wireless to headsets.
The problem is the third parties don't want to make content until a lot of people are using the headsets and people don't want to use the headsets until there's a lot of content. The only solution is to do what companies like Nintendo do and make a bunch of first-party content to have at launch with the product, but since these headsets are not being made by game companies, they either don't make first-party content, or they do but it sucks ass.
I returned my Quest Pro because it was painfully uncomfortable for my head shape, so definitely your mileage may vary on that. I was spoiled by the Quest 2 and the replacement headstrap options that really increased the comfort for me.
I added a comfort strap that goes left/right to take the weight off my forehead. Comfy with (I’ve worn it for 6 hour sessions many times), but completely unusable without.
@@float32 I attempted a couple solutions before I sent it back. Granted I was an early adopter and there might be better options now. I was waiting to see how the XR Elite turned out, now I might as well see how the Quest 3 turns out. Still pretty happy with my Quest 2 on virtual desktop. I use the Bobo VR battery strap ATM with a better ventilated facial interface and some off ear speakers. May eventually have to check out what comfort options are available for the Quest Pro if the Quest 3 is only so-so.
Quest Pro Stereo-accurate '3D reconstructed 'passthrough is made primarily for overlaying 3D virtual objects. It's probably the most robust standalone mixed reality device out right now.
I was super disappointed when I first got it, but I've really warmed up to it after adjusting to it. I use it over my SteamVR headsets now. It's certainly a waste of money if you have access to a quest pro, but if it were half the price (Which is how much I got mine for), I would say it would reasonably hold up against other options. Better than a Quest 2 in my opinion if you're doing tethered PCVR. Wi-Fi streaming has a terrible latency when you turn your head fast that really needs to be fixed, but that's about the only part that's worse than Quest 2. If you have access to the Pico 4 where you live (I don't) then that's certainly the better option, superior in every category including price.
Have you considered preording a Bigscreen Beyond? It's a SteamVR lighthouse-tracked headset, so you would need base stations + controllers (so price will be a bit higher), but it looks like it's a way more comfortable option over the XR Elite.
Interested to see your reaction to how the XR performs. Not heard good things from the few VR officianados who have bought them. Please Please do a video where Phil tries to use these for VR for a week or two and gives a full review. We want to know what it is like to use as a daily driver, does it play nice with Steam VR, is the tracking and latency good etc.
Hey guys, I run a VR Arcade and we have 22 of the Vive Focus 3 which use the exact same controllers and can tell you they can take a bit of a beating, customers don't hit the wall all the time but they do once in a while and after a year of using them we haven't lost a single one. So I can confidently say kid resistant! Got 3 of the XR Elites and didn't see the fluff though, I think it's packaging, they mention on there using a lot of recycled stuff which does that often. The XR elite is an amazing headset, but there are some issues with the lenses quality, I feel like the Focus 3 was MUCH better value for money.
If you want an amazing, non-racing VR experience, get Half-life: Alyx. The main game is amazing and engaging with immersive mechanics. For example, covering your mouth to prevent you from coughing and attracting a certain enemy. But all the free workshop campaigns are also amazing. From mini golf to a John Wick simulator, all built on the same game engine.
I have a valve index, I love it but people may not love the wires but that just means you can play hours without charging. But I’m sitting in a racing sim rig and not moving around a room.
I can't even justify the cost of a VR headset above $400. I use mine primarily for DCS World and a few racing sims. My Quest 2 (with Link, of course) still gives me what I need.
Wife has one and I have not tried it yet. She enjoys VR but has had issues with the wireless streaming. I'm trying to talk her into upgrading from the 2070 in her machine but I really just need to install the software into mine with a 3080 to see if that would resolve the issues since the only other difference is 10 Home VS 10 Pro. Still like my Vive Pro with first party wireless even it its clunky because Untethered wireless - However can't put that in an ITX system like I wanted to so its in a Dark Base 700 tower.
I got a PICO4 and I really like it! So much I'll probably never buy this overpriced Vive trash again. You may want to try it too, if you don't have one yet. Didn't expect much from the PICO due to the rather low price tag but boy was I wrong. No stupid ripple lenses, stable wirless connection without additional "antlers" or 3rd party stuff, nearly 100% sweet spot, good FoV, can install any APK on it, works without lighthouses, has two controllers not far behind the great Index controller, works with and without glasses, can just pop on custom made lenses and I can go on... great product and even better with some upgrades like better face panel and extra akkus. And I'm saying all this after having owned quite some VR goggles and having spend a few thousand dollars for these over the years. The PICO4 has still some issues but for me it's a far leap in the right direction and the first time I like being in VR for hours...
I have a Quest 2 for, mainly, iRacing. I use it ‘virtually’ (🙄) every day. It is awesome. I love it so much. I considered triple screens, but the immersion from VR is unparalleled, imo. I never suffer with motion sickness, thankfully, so that’s probably a major contributing factor. If you are considering VR and can afford it, then I can’t recommend it enough. Just wish the choice was greater and a little less expensive. The chances of prices reducing in this climate is, quite frankly, wishful thinking… such a shame. As a kid playing Jet Set Willy, or Manic Miner on a ZX Spectrum in the early 80’s, or defender on my mates 2600, I could only dream of this technology. As a 54 year old geek, I absolutely love it! In other words, I like VR…
I've had triple angled screens since 2007, currently got quad 4k's, haven't set up sims properly yet, but just going straight in DCS World or sitting in the car in Assetto Corsa, VR wins so bigly for immersion.
I also have the quest2 but for racing it's awful, I can't stand the resolution. Give me triples, I just use 3x 1080P. The immersion thing is fun though the first time, for about an hour. I haven't touched the quest2 for about a year now. Don't get me wrong though, the whole idea and experience is awesome, the quality is just not there. I need atleast a 5000 series geforce and 8k VR headset to enjoy Assetto Corsa with all the great details enabled that CSP has to offer. Currently my 3080 is barely getting 75fps on a triple screen 1080p setup, but AC is extremely heavy though (I mean, CAN be extremely heavy)
@@stefankoopmans2200 though, I'm thinking back to the last time I went karting, I think the track looked like 60P with 32x motion blur and 12x frame tearing.....
@@stefankoopmans2200 I don’t have a ‘mega’ pc, but it’s decent. 5800x3d with a 3070 Ti. I run the Quest 2 at 90Hz with it at full 1.5x. I spent some time tweaking the many different settings (using guides on YT) and it looks great and locked at 90fps for nearly every track. Slight drops when starting with a grid of 30 cars or above. The image quality isn’t as good as a G2 by all accounts, but it’s streets ahead of the CV2, which I had years ago. I know what you mean about the resolution, but tbh, when I’m in a racing battle, I don’t really notice the lack of eye candy. I’m ‘there’ in the race. The immersion trumps graphics every time for me. But everyone’s different. I’d love to see a Varejo Aero. Bet that’s stunning!?
I read, "I feel like I got ripped off ." I saw the pic and laughed, first thing that came to mind was, and you look like you got ripped off. That was too funny lol! Had to watch the video after that lol.
The built in correction lenses are always spherical (myopic/hyperopic correction). If you got more than +/-6.0 dpt, you‘d have to wear glasses and same in case of astigmatism which needs cylindrical lenses for correction. This is a general problem for all optics (e.g. rifle scopes, binoculars,..). Yeah, this is sad, but for a large demographic group, this still isn‘t satisfyingly useable… btw, as I saw, the ring goes from 0-6, but it doesn‘t say if + or -? So it is only for short OR farsighted people, not both (in more sophisticated optics you get +6…0…-6 for example.) This is even worse then….let alone the very poor ergonomics of the frame….
Also, if it's just for basic +/- dpt changes, then those lenses can be quite inexpensive both as 'off the shelf' glasses (ie get a different style pair than you would normally wear to suit purely VR use, or even hack up to mount on headset) or clip-on lenses. I paid less than £20 for a pair of lenses to fit my Quest 2 (luckily my astigmatism is just one eye and very slight so not a massive issue), and one of my friends paid only a little more for a very basic pair of prescription glasses which he has fashioned into something similar. Sure, it's a feature for convenience/ux reasons, but for someone spending that much on a headset, it feels a bit of a half measure.
@@NFMorley My EDC glasses for astig are 150$+ (no fashion brand of anything, just great glasswork). So ofc i'd prefer OTG (over the glasses) goggles. I haven't seen any great VR implementations yet, closest is Sony, but those are platform locked. And I wouldn't be able to afford VR anyways ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Especially overpriced low quality plastic landfill :))
love it when you guys cover VR, especially sim racing VR as imo its the only true next gen gaming experience out there, the immersion you get from the wheel force feedback combined with the stereoscopic 3D & headtracking is second to none & thats just entry level, im not even a car guy but the second i tried it i was hooked
"1000$ for VR is expensive" meanwhile a phone can cost just as much if not more and everyone still buys them (some people even buy a new one every year)
Personally, I'm excited for the Bigscreen Beyond headset. If small form factor is what you are looking for, well the Beyond certainly deliver on that front. Specs-wise they are also top notch, just have to wait and see how the launch goes.
Except the FOV sucks shit, the refresh rate is mediocre, it's wired tethered only (fucking barf) and the already super high price doesn't including tracking or controllers. (All in w/ SteamVR 2.0 base stations + Knuckles it's nearly $2000.... 😑). IMO the only people the Beyond really makes sense for are the diehard social VR obsessives, who will likely find it REVELATORY simply due to the size & weight when spending ≈4+ hours in VR at a time. Think the people that basically live in VRChat. For everyone else they should just wait for Quest 3 later this year which will be a VASTLY better VR headset for most normal people.
@@x32i77 I wouldn't personally buy ANYTHING from Pimax. 🤷 They have the worst execution track record, build quality, and customer service in the entire XR industry, and it's not even CLOSE. Again, I'd wait for Quest 3 before buying anything because just like Quest 2 before it, it is HIGHLY likely to make a number of vastly more expensive headsets basically redundant on release.
meanwhile, I paid almost half that in Canadian funds for the Rift S, and while the refresh rate is at the minimum for VR, I find it fine. Works just as well as the HTC Vive I tried at a VR Cafe.
To me VR is the most incredible thing in years and years. It's subjective but the feeling of immersion you can get is second to none and when the experience is good there is nothing quite like it. Not only for racing sims (I could never play a racing game without VR again after seeing how amazing it is inside a headset) but for everything else too.
@8:00 what are they like for movies ? my 3d projector died last year and can not decide if i should buy a new one or not , and liking idea that lens can be adjusted to suit eyes
Honestly for me this is the first VR headset that I am truly interested in. I need to wear glasses be able to see so having the adjustment has me very intrigued I cannot wait for the review.
you can get prescription lens inserts that just clip in to place for most headsets now. while it's great to see some built in options for this headset i doubt it would cater for my astigmatism. so please don't feel like this is the only headset you could use
Want Jay to try on Valve Index and its controllers as a comparison (yes its not a standalone) and for smallest amount of light bleeding = Bigscreen Beyond headset
Index controllers are great for being able to track your fingers, but man do they suck from poor quality. Valve should be ashamed, at least they're good on RMAs, but still such a huge hassle.
VR in my options needs to focus on much wider FOV technology that can be put into a compact headset. Make it affordable, high res and totally wireless then you have my attention. Wishful thinking I know.
Yeah, no. I have a Reverb G2 and I'm quite happy with it. Stand-alone seems like a great concept, but I don't like the idea of a battery of that size being strapped to the back of my head. Failures are quite rare, I understand - but that's just something that still doesn't sound like a very good idea. At the very least, I'd like to see how they fail under various conditions, just to see if they bothered at all to engineer around the scenario. Until then, I'd much rather have a slightly larger and longer-lasting battery included that clips to your belt, and runs a short tethered cable to the headset. Maybe even have a slightly more powerful processing unit located in the belt-pack while they're at it - which will help reduce the weight of the headset even further too.
I'm sticking with my Rift S until it dies entirely. Steam VR beta builds and Oculus beta updates have stabilized my VR experience for Assetto Corsa. I've also made sure that Steam is the default OpenXR software solution.
I have heard good things about the Pico headsets having great visuals and weight distribution. I have no clue why they just don't sell in north america. Either way rumor has it that the Quest3 will be announced this year, but with Zuck's move away from VR to the "new hotness" that is AI... who knows
psvr2 is the only one i've found truely immersed without light bleed and only limited screen door effect on the outside. htc was just frustrating to get working after multiple updates and 3 cables going back to the PC lol but yeah i'd hope for more.
They only have adjustment for positive diopter? Or are those numbers meaningless? I have a -2 diopter. The main issue with the quest is software, not hardware.
Love this stuff, I had my nearly 3 year old grandson watch some VR content of fish using my quest 2. It was so cool to see him processing what he was seeing combined with still hearing me. "Papa! fishies!!!" Where? him pointing all over.
Have tried alot of headsets, working in the XR business, and have the most of the headsets for development and testing. The Oculus Pro is actually way better in almost all aspects. Better passthrogh, better weight distribution, better hand tracking, better controls. The HTC is actually much worse then the Pico 4 in alot of things and that headset is half the price! For personal use i would actually chose the Pico 4.
In past I trained on use of full face respirators and you could not use your eye glass with them as "You need full seal" So the respirator had some think akin to rubber O ring that you used to add a set of persecution lenses into which was on inside. The rubber ring would hold the lenses in place so all VR kit need is some thing like this and not that costly add to headset. Then all you then need to get is set of persecution lenses that are sized to fit.
@@khaledassaf6356 life is life i in my 50's and In effect the shock absorber (Intervertebral Discs) have started to fail so no fast turn of head or twisting of the back so VR is out and not real look at for gaming but "thank you for kind comment" Gaming for me is nice big display screen and soft chair with good back support, keyboard and mouse and over the year computer gaming has been lot fun and still is from Elite on BBC and fallout 1 PC to AAA game of today which are akin to science fiction compared to early games late 80's
Rule of thumb in the UK...If a wearable makes you look like a twxt, it's pile of sh:te. Rules holds well here...Costs need to lower for tech to improve. With VR we always feel like we're another five years away.
cool to see a big youtuber covering vr, i hope the review will be solid. already liked the foot notes that it does not has a displayport connection, because that's something people like to know^^
As a UK user of VR I run a Vive pro2 (not that many out there) with a 4090.. I use it for MSFS what I want to see is a Retailer a comparison between all the different Makes and Models with the Flight sims fidelity and smoothness are king but its a wing and a prayer when you change your headset
While it's not perfect, I still like my Valve Index. I have a custom face gasket for comfort. I have custom lenses which match my prescription, so I don't have to use glasses. And it also runs on Linux, which is my chosen main OS.
Was hoping you would use it in this video too. I recently tried it at an event and the form factor and mixed reality was the two best features. I love the idea the headset alone weighs 270g but obviously that’s without any power/battery. Like Jay said one day you want VR to be like a pair of glasses. The cost killed my interest. I want an all in one XR headset and comfort is very subjective. The Quest Pro is known as one of the most uncomfortable/comfortable headsets in VR due to the lack of adjustability in the front pad. It can literally strangle a users forehead but I personally enjoy it. Barely use it though. Anyway, great video from you guys as always and looking forward to what Apple offers
I like that a prescription adjustment was built into these. It looked like they only adjusted one way in this video though. Do they cover negative or positive prescriptions? Thanks
Thanks for sharing this insight - extreme nearsightedness is prevalent in my family (-6 at the milder end of the spectrum), I'm always looking for ways to make the glasses experience more comfortable with gaming as a result. It's a shame that the correction isn't closer to what I or my family would need, but it is still a positive to see that some accommodation is being attempted for those who are visually impaired.
Jay, you need to get ahold of someone at bigscreen, the new bigscreen VR allows prescription lenses and its way smaller and lighter, and while its only tethered, it should be perfect for your use case as a PC racer, as that is my main use for VR as well... keep the VR stuff coming, really enjoying it!
For racing and flight sims I love my Reverb G2. 3100x3100 (approx) res per eye. Only downside is LCD and not OLED so blacks can be a bit bright for some.
Is there no HMD that is just a 3d big screen monitor you can wear on your head and not a VR or AR? All I want is a high rez virtual display of 100" at 6-10 ft or similar to get a private home movie/game display that do not require 1/3 of my living room, does that even exist and am I the only one that want one?
FIrst time poster, long time watcher. Jay, Love, love, love your content keep up the great work. Any who, I was just talking to my wife about taking the VR plunge, and this WAS a major contender. You just saved me some money. Thanks again for the great content.
I would like to know what the best VR headset is. I don't want to touch oculus because the facebook integration being required is BS. I just want it tied to steam.
As someone who only does combat flight sims with VR (original Rift) like DCS, I’m waiting on better resolution and refresh rate along with more wide VR headsets like PiMax. For analogue aircraft, like the F-14, it’s hard to read the analogue gauges. The wide angle lense would also be closer to real life field of view and would allow me to see what’s behind me w/o breaking my neck. Right now, it’s like looking through a ski mask with blinders on both sides. Also, some of these head sets really need active cooling. Fogging as another issue along with dealing with the inevitable sweat resulting from the headset’s heat. Right now, TrackIR is still what I prefer using in most cases.
Don't know how I will use other VR headsets since I myself have a Quest 2 and it works with my glasses and doesn't touch the lenses which from what I hear is a rare thing in VR headsets. Also despite the lens correction, 6 isn't the same as -6. Granted for me that number would have to be a -11(yes I'm blind). Even aftermarket lens covers only go to -10....
HTC was kind of... almost there with the Elite. Fun seeing some VR content from you!
The legend himself. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the XR Elite. Im keeping mine just for the future upgradeability of face and eye tracking plus Vives future trackers, but thats pretty much it. I really wanted it to to be good but it sadly just feels like a alpha product :/
I love my Cosmos. It performs really well on a 1060, surprisingly.
Seeing you here right after watching Tuesday Newsday is amazing
there are still no budget pankake lens display port headsets. feels like a gap in the market. I wish HTC had made a htc vive 2 with pankake lenses (like pico 4) and display port
oh hey it's mr tuesday newsday himself
Please keep doing VR content. I love VR. No one really talks about or does benchmarks for PC minimum or rational specs with VR as a main driver.
I know it’s frustrating, id love for mainstream UA-camrs to do it! I’d love to buy a graphics card based off VR performance.
I do the same thing as jay and use my for sim racing on my sim rig.
PlayStation is about to blow the VR market out of the water
@@chadbear8759 i use index and im really happy with it
I keep asking for this. VR benchmarks are so rare, they need to be a thing. Although it may be a small percentage, it's an increaseing technology that seems to get more popular, especially with the quest 2 that dominated the market since so many people (were able to) buy it.
I've got a Reverb G2 and a RTX 3090, have to dial settings back to get stable frame rates for sim racing. The running joke is nobody needs 8K gaming, sure, except for high end VR headsets that are somewhere between 4K and 8K in terms of pixel count. DLSS can't save us from older titles and foveated rendering mods don't seem to help my setup.
Having a big youtube channel with the ability to try different hardware combinations would really help me buy a better setup with confidence. Right now all I know is the 4090 needs settings turned down for these headsets too. My cpu probably needs to change, it's a 3900X. But do I get a 5800X3D or do I need a 7800X3D?
I don't know, I already paid for the best on offer when I built this PC, and it's not performing. So now I need upgrades waaaay before my usual upgrade cycle. I don't want to just throw money at the best without knowing for sure it will do what I want.
When you guys do reviews of these vr headsets I’d like to see you do it as a round table between the three of you, or at least Jay and Phil, so you get more than one head’s perspective on fit and comfort. Looking forward to Phil’s stand-alone though.
IMO it's kind of a clickbait title to proclaim he regrets buying it, without even using it and/or discussing performance. Plus why leave all the footage in about how it's uncomfortable , if it turns out he didn't have it properly assembled? He could have at least said whether or not he still preferred the Pro's fit.
Edit: To the people claiming he did say if he preferred the Pro's fit, I'm talking about after he realized he didn't have the Vive setup correctly. He didn't state if that changed his opinion, even though that was specifically what he said caused him to prefer the Pro.
@@danchicago3430He did, multiple times
VR is very subjective, even when being objective. What matters to Jay, may not matter at all to you or I. IMO, we are at a point that every VR HMD offers something incredible, but it just depends on what that specific consumer is looking for in their VR experience. I'm a VR enthusiast and clarity is king IMO. Quality, ease of use and reliability is also key. I want the best of the best so I splurged for the Varjo Aero (currently 15% off) and the past 7 months of VR has been unlike anything I had experienced before. Every single time I use the HMD (which is every day for hours) I am blown away and have numerous "WOW" moments. I'm glad VR is here with edge to edge clarity and lifelike visuals. Hopefully this will be the normal sooner than later as it is truly special and can't wait for everyone to experience this.
@@farmertrueVR I'm with you 100%. I'm jealous of your Aero. Bet it's fantastic. If only..
@@danchicago3430 he did a couple of time, but i guess you're too slow in the head
I don't have an XR Elite but I do have the Quest Pro. I absolutely love this headset, my seventh HMD and feels like a massive upgrade over everything else I've ever used. I have a top strap from Creative Studioform that really enhances the comfort for me, out of the box it presses on my forehead a lot.
I've never seen Phil look more like a "minion" than when he put the housing on his face.
Wow he did tho 😂
instant meme
*Phil-et Minion* 🥩
I feel like Jay should look into the BigScreen Beyond headset. Seems like it would be the perfect option for his personal racing rig at least.
the one thing this headst shows, is the face interface is very important. this thing looks like crap and barely fits jays face. but a tailor made interface that fits perfectly, being standard for heasets would be a game changer. that needs to be an option on all headsets going forward.
Yea, i hope they do
@@ge2719 I was thinking the complany that Big Screen uses to make these custom gaskets could make a killing expanding to other headset face gaskets. Imagine having a custom gasket for your Quest 2! That would be sick! I would totally go borrow an apple ipad or phone from someone to scan my face one time to get one in heartbeat!
Or pimax crystal
@@joebloggs8900 I don't think Jay would be interested in a bigger bulkier headset though
Bruh this Corsair ad. They better release it before I switch to Lian Li.
I guess around August.
Haha I was thinking the same thing! RELEASE IT
It'll use a new commander 100%
Wireless rgb I’m saying now
Is Lian Li still around?
I'm still surprised that everyone doesn't love VR as much as I do. It's nothing short of the ability to go on a mini-vacation anytime you want. It's crazy.
People who dont like it, tend to get motion sick or are illogically afraid of it. The use case are incredible for me and my headset gets used a lot
It's still too expensive for me. Simple as.
@Smitty Vanjagermanjenson Im in the camp of the people that get sick but absolutely love it.
I have an index and a large playspace to play in. Stuff like beatsaber I can play endlessly but like 20 mins of half life alyx has me out of action for another hour cause it made me so sick.
Trying to get my VR legs hehe.
the problem is all the games you play on vr feels more like tech demos, its only fun for few minutes then becomes a gimmick
@@ashleyjohansson230 many do, that's true. There are MANY legit titles though, including HL:Alyx, MS Flight Sim, tons of great racing Sims, Population:One (battle royale shooter. SUPER FUN). Games like Stormland are crazy fun with the climbing and and flying mechanics! Lone Echo 1 and 2 are amazing and Echo Arena, which is sadly and STUPIDLY being shutdown by Meta, is an absolutely INCREDIBLE and totally polished VR experience (Think Enders Game and Tron had a baby and turned it into and Arena game.. SO AMAZING).
Interesting point. The biggest drawback for people getting into vr is always the price just for it to increase in price with each iteration of vr. Somewhat like gatekeeping or running away from a potential audience/demographics
Not sure why you think that. There are products at different price points, but the Meta/Oculus mainstream headsets have been selling for between $300 and $400 for a long time now.
The Quest Pro is not a successor to the Quest 2, but a product for a different audience. The Quest 3 should come later this year for much less than the Pro.
Yeah price is a problem. But GPU prices are worse! What you are getting is getting better. Now really high end PCVR is costing a fortune, and PSVR2 looks like a bargain given the fidelity and features it delivers - and people were complaining about the price of that too! Everything is goin up!
Arguably Quest 2 was the most accessible headset in terms of price, and still is.
Yup. Its part of my problem trying to figure out how to get out of my Quest 2. I want a higher fov. But also want a higher resolution but the headsets that have decent fov tend to have shit resolution. Or the headset has not so good reviews. Im struggling to find a set up that has what i want including all the tracking. It gets expensive. The Varjo headset peak my interest. But it also comes down to wires. I love not having to trip over cables. I did that enough before i got interchangeable batteries for my Quest
@@Spencer067 If you're fine with Varjo Aero prices, take a look at the Pimax Crystal, then. Seems like it'll be right up your alley once all the features are fully implemented, at least on paper.
My biggest problem is not the price at all, I would pay more but I have no interest in wearing a big ole goggle helmet to play video games. I won't even wear 3d glasses to watch a tv, that is too intrusive for me. Plus it's basically only good for racing/cockpit games and porn. I actually have a crazy sim rig and pc, but I play at 12+Nm... I have "wind simulators" (fans) blasting me while I play and it is still a super sweaty experience... that set of goggles would get so gross so fast. I would much rather just run 3 monitors than ever get vr, they're at least useful even when I am not playing games. I think motion control is largely gimmicky and stupid, either it needs to work like the matrix (good luck with that...) or be less intrusive than regular glasses, and short of that I will never be interested.
Quick note on the adjustable eye pieces for people with eye prescriptions: this can't work for you if you have astigmatism. You will still need to wear either glasses or some kind of prescription insert- if this headset can even acomodate that.
if it allows glasses, it'll allow an insert
Indeed! I can't use normal binoculars for that reason. The astigmatism will result in small patches being sharp and the rest being blurred...
I've been very happy with my HP Reverb G2 for racing and flight sims for a long time now. It has a high resolution and good image quality and doesn't break the bank either. Sure, it isn't wireless, but for sims that isn't really important anyway as you remain stationary/sitting and use racing wheels/HOTAS etc..
Try out Varjo Aero or wait for Pimax crystal. The jump is HUGE
Mostly agree: one small drawback to me is that inside-out tracking always limits the controllers movement somewhat. I was perfectly fine setting up the sensors in my room.
One biggie tho: the headset wasn't compatible with my x570 Chipset when I bought it shortly after launch. I couldn't find any reason why the headset wasn't detected and there was no information (besides one reddit post I found about the same issue where they kinda guessed arround what it could be) to be found especially not from HP sooo...yeah that was frustrating.
Nowadays I'm quite happy with it tho.
G2 is still a nice headset, I've had mine for two years. The Quest Pro is a substantial upgrade if you have the GPU to run it though. If you can imagine the G2 with its central clarity across the entire display, larger FOV, better colours and blacks, and no glare and godrays you basically have the Quest Pro.
It's impressive how much pancake lenses can do to improve the visuals over fresnel.
I'm using Reverb G2 with Valve Knuckles, and it's great (because G2 controllers and their tracking is AWFUL).
But sometimes this hybrid VR takes much time to setup it if something is not working properly xD
@Travis Clark with a setup like that you definitely want to upgrade your headset, either Quest Pro, Areo, Crystal or Bigscreen depending on what you do in VR. With these headsets we are definitely in the era of VR 2.0 now. Fresnel lenses are obselete at this stage.
I pre-ordered a Pimax Crystal. I am more confident in that offering, especially for racing sims, trucking sims, and flight sims.
Awesome 😎
The Pro and XR Elite, are headsets made for the non-existent (or barely if there is) "Commercial use", which also explains why the price only goes up.
Headsets like THESE are why i think people say VR is dead or dying, because the Cooperates all try to force EVERYTHING to Commercial use, which no one wants.
Because of this, the headsets fall flat on the people who actually use VR headsets.
At least that's how I've seen it with the lil I hear or what-not, and its the Impression I have.
'Enterprise' headsets are used in many industrys, particularly medical and especially military. The only reason 'consumer' VR has become somewhat affordable is because 'enterprise' has been used for decades.
However, I agree that the current lack of new titles is frustrating.
What did he mean by this 5:40? Quick latency compared to what? Wi-Fi? Since he did mention Wi-Fi 6. Or quick latency compared to other cables? What was he refering to when he said "quick latency"
I love my Quest Pro! The inside out tracking on the controllers is a game changer. Only drawback I have at the moment is the headset doesn't see the controllers anymore since the latest firmware update. Hopefully they get it fixed soon.
Are you thinking about the 3 or this XR? I have the pro and the 2 not super impressed seems some of the 3 reviews show decent improvements...
I really like that you review VR tech on your channel. It is still kind of a niche but hopefully will become more and more interesting for all gamers in the near future
Honestly, I think it's only niche due to the cost. Even a lower end headset costs almost as much as a game console, and some headsets don't include everything you need, so there's more expense. Plus, like Jay said, the cost keeps going up.
@@wandererreece9540 plus gaming pc. Quest without it looks like sh..t
Honestly the worst part of VR for me was having to give it up because the headset belongs to my daughter and she needed it back.. I know Phil will agree with me when I say it makes a big difference to Elite Dangerous gameplay. I also miss playing with my Wall-E esque training robot, the butterflies in STEAM VR, my personal virtual workplace penthouse suite and having my own huge personal cinema.. :(
Just wanted add that VR is really important for seated simulations like driving and flying sims. I use VR exclusively for Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) and it's utterly amazing for that title (and things like MSFS 2020).
New and in the market for a vr headset for pc. Which one is best for dcs? Thanks!
@@cyclechris6591 DCS is awesome, you'll really enjoy it in VR. Depends on your budget, but the best mid-range solution is the Reverb G2. If cost isn't an obstacle, the Varjo Aero and Pimax Crystal both provide superb high-end visuals. I'm not sure I can recommend the Quest Pro for DCS, but some do swear by it. If you want an Oculus headset, best to wait for the Quest 3 coming soon. The Index was a great option 3 years ago, but it's old and the resolution is too low for sims.
I'll add that I'm a happy Reverb G2 owner, but I'm looking at the Pimax Crystal as a potential upgrade soon.
@@cyclechris6591 I've used both the Quest 2 and Reverb 2 for DCS. I'd say the Reverb 2 is the better choice in absolute terms, but I didn't consider it worth twice the asking price of the Q2. I got my R2 used from a co-worker who had bought a Pimax... so I basically rented it for a few months then sold it off for what I paid for it and held onto the Q2. (My kids started playing some of the games available directly from Oculus / Meta.)
All that said, I went back to a 4k 120hz 48" pancake. While the 3D depth of field is truly impressive with VR, I just felt all the other compromises just weren't worth it... constant tweaking of tempermental software, crap framerates, very restricted field of view vs pancake + IR head tracking, soupy/blurry visuals when your eyes dart anywhere outside the relatively tiny sweet spot on the lens, a big boot strapped to your head gets tiresome during that 25 minute flight to the target... From my perspective, the VR tech needs another few cycles in the development oven.
My recommendation to you would be to go cheap with the first headset... Q2 or R2.. can probably find piles of used ones for cheap. Take some time and gauge your level of motion sickness tolerance, get an idea for the performance you'll be sacrificing compared to pancake and then maybe upgrade to a higher end headset if you enjoy the experience. It seems to be an all or nothing situation with a lot of DCS players... many swear they could never go without VR and many can't handle all the jitters / stutters, reduced graphic quality and just general performance headaches. I'll likely jump back into the VR pool at some point, perhaps even with the Q3 depending on reviews / word of mouth, but more likely not until the 2024/25 GPU and VR releases when I'll upgrade the entire computer.
I have a HP Reverb G2 that I use for DCS. The biggest problem I have is I also have an LG C2 42" OLED as a monitor - and the VR headsets never look as good. So while the immersion and feeling of VR flying is pretty great, the flat monitor just looks so much better. I'm just waiting for the day of an affordable VR headset that can look as good as my OLED.
Just get an IR head tracking and play on the OLED screen.
@@pr3d4t0r11 I do have an IR head tracker, but I HATE having to turn my head but keep my eyes forward.
I bought the G2 and after being not as impressed with the image quality compared to my monitor, I returned it and got the IR tracker. But the IR tracker, having to keep my eyes forward when moving my head and not having that immersive 360-degree 1:1 just didn't hold a candle to the G2. So while the G2 isn't as good as I hoped in the visual quality and FOV, I prefer it to the IR tracker I got. So I re-purchased the G2 when it was on a ridiculous sale from HP. I think I got it for $300.
I have a Quest Pro and it is very comparable to my Samsung Q9FN Qled. If the Pro had HDR it would be hard to tell the difference between them.
@@CybrSlydr Compared to my old tvs the LG is better in every way. I sometimes had to wait 2 minutes before the tv came on. Now it takes 3 seconds and I get all the apps I want. Its like when I got fibre internet.
Pimax makes headsets with a much higher quality, although they are not particularly affordable and they often have a lot of jank.
12:41, it looks like thats a slit to attach the additional strap to. But I did not get enough of a view of the strap, maybe it doesn't fir through there.
Just bought a Corsair 5000D airflow. I want this cable management thing announced already to see if it’ll actually help my new build.
Can't fault my Reverb G2 for now with a rtx3090. I only use it for sim racing and flight sim and I love it. I did gat a replacement face cover for increased FOV, and I use cable management pulleys, but it's good enough for what my hardware can deliver. For next gen VR it's going to be 50/60 series cards before we see massive improvements that are worth me paying for.
I have the same headset and gpu, but I have to turn my graphics settings way down to get stable frame rates. I gave up on a career mode save game as my wet/night settings were so low they looked like utter garbage in the day/dry. I think my cpu is the weak link, a 3900X, but I don't know what is safe to buy to get both good graphics and good performance. I've seen reviews that even the 4090 needs settings turned down.
So, what cpu do you have and what compromises have you had to make with graphics settings?
I'm running a G1 and still there isn't any reason to upgrade. The resolution is unmatched for the price and gfx cards can barely keep up with that anyway. They're just tinkering with utility but hardly anything ground breaking, especially at those inflated prices.
I think the same way. I'm at 3090 and G2 is fine for now. Generation RTX 5090 or 6090 and further evolution in VR to be fantastic
Agreed If you’re only using it for sim racing you’re better off getting an HP Reverb it’s 4K and can get for cheap as HP are bowing out of the VR market
Pimax crystal and bigscreen. That's the future apparently 3080 runs smooth
Regarding the headset not fitting your face - perhaps giving the beyond vr headset a try would give you a good comparison as to what's "possible" and what's "reasonable" for personalized vs mass consumer hardware.
Really liking the idea of easy to adjust PD as well as adjusting the lenses for a RX script. Although to be honest I just have magnetic clip on RX lenses in my Quest 2. I also see the HTC headset as a more premium level product vs the very budget friendly Quest 2 but it'd be awesome to not have to add additional thickness to the lenses to be able to see without glasses.
I was looking at this before but after everything you've said I'm so glad I went with the Pico 4 instead for like 1/3 of the price. Could literally get that and a 4070 for the price of an XR so the XR would need to have some pretty insane performance to justify the price.
It's crazy when you put it like that.
Good choice 👍
same, also got the pico 4.. but now considering selling it for the quest 3
If you wear glasses the Pico accepts magnetically attached prescription lenses so no need to cram in your glasses under the headset. Much more comfortable and you're less likely to damage your glasses or the headset lenses
I looked at VR stuff a few months ago and decided to get a Pico, because it looked like the best at the lower end. Unfortunately, their products aren't sold in the country I live in. Quest 3 looks good, but it also looks like the Pico would be better than that too.
I have an Index, seems they are only now catching up to the index. Can't wait to see what valve is cooking up.
Better be a self upgrading wireless headset with nano technology, because you know you arent getting a 3rd headset lol
steam doesnt care about vr anymore because they know its dead, they are putting all the funding into steam deck 2
@@ashleyjohansson230 That is my fear as well, but we keep finding small snippets that suggest they are working on a vr headset. Deckard and some patents etc, but it has been quiet lately.
Look into the bigscreen headset once it releases if your priority is lightweightedness. That thing is tiny (and far out of my budget :cry:)
Nooo everyone else is going to jump the gun on the bandwagon, we should keep this hidden and not make it entirely popular, although I know it be bad for business but still
if i wasnt saving for the "new" vive trackers i would already preordered the bigscreen headset
The VR crowd would love more VR content. I'd love some content helping me determine my next GPU update, especially to match up to headsets using the XR2 gen 2 chips and AV1 when they start coming out later this year. I'm considering AMD seriously, but I've heard so much how AMD sucks at VR. It would be great to hear your perspective on how the modern GPU's compare at streaming PCVR wireless to headsets.
The problem is the third parties don't want to make content until a lot of people are using the headsets and people don't want to use the headsets until there's a lot of content. The only solution is to do what companies like Nintendo do and make a bunch of first-party content to have at launch with the product, but since these headsets are not being made by game companies, they either don't make first-party content, or they do but it sucks ass.
With the insane amount of money Meta burns, you would think they would be sponsoring some high quality games.
amd has been fine for vr for ages... one of our rigs runs a 6900xt on a vive pro 2 perfectly
I returned my Quest Pro because it was painfully uncomfortable for my head shape, so definitely your mileage may vary on that. I was spoiled by the Quest 2 and the replacement headstrap options that really increased the comfort for me.
I added a comfort strap that goes left/right to take the weight off my forehead. Comfy with (I’ve worn it for 6 hour sessions many times), but completely unusable without.
@@float32 I attempted a couple solutions before I sent it back. Granted I was an early adopter and there might be better options now. I was waiting to see how the XR Elite turned out, now I might as well see how the Quest 3 turns out. Still pretty happy with my Quest 2 on virtual desktop. I use the Bobo VR battery strap ATM with a better ventilated facial interface and some off ear speakers.
May eventually have to check out what comfort options are available for the Quest Pro if the Quest 3 is only so-so.
Quest Pro Stereo-accurate '3D reconstructed 'passthrough is made primarily for overlaying 3D virtual objects. It's probably the most robust standalone mixed reality device out right now.
I was super disappointed when I first got it, but I've really warmed up to it after adjusting to it. I use it over my SteamVR headsets now. It's certainly a waste of money if you have access to a quest pro, but if it were half the price (Which is how much I got mine for), I would say it would reasonably hold up against other options. Better than a Quest 2 in my opinion if you're doing tethered PCVR. Wi-Fi streaming has a terrible latency when you turn your head fast that really needs to be fixed, but that's about the only part that's worse than Quest 2. If you have access to the Pico 4 where you live (I don't) then that's certainly the better option, superior in every category including price.
Tethered....yuck.
except for an anemic library of content of course.
Have you considered preording a Bigscreen Beyond? It's a SteamVR lighthouse-tracked headset, so you would need base stations + controllers (so price will be a bit higher), but it looks like it's a way more comfortable option over the XR Elite.
They share the Quest Pro around for racing each other all the time. I can't see bigscreen beyond working well for their usecase.
Interested to see your reaction to how the XR performs. Not heard good things from the few VR officianados who have bought them.
Please Please do a video where Phil tries to use these for VR for a week or two and gives a full review. We want to know what it is like to use as a daily driver, does it play nice with Steam VR, is the tracking and latency good etc.
Hey guys, I run a VR Arcade and we have 22 of the Vive Focus 3 which use the exact same controllers and can tell you they can take a bit of a beating, customers don't hit the wall all the time but they do once in a while and after a year of using them we haven't lost a single one. So I can confidently say kid resistant!
Got 3 of the XR Elites and didn't see the fluff though, I think it's packaging, they mention on there using a lot of recycled stuff which does that often.
The XR elite is an amazing headset, but there are some issues with the lenses quality, I feel like the Focus 3 was MUCH better value for money.
If you want an amazing, non-racing VR experience, get Half-life: Alyx. The main game is amazing and engaging with immersive mechanics. For example, covering your mouth to prevent you from coughing and attracting a certain enemy. But all the free workshop campaigns are also amazing. From mini golf to a John Wick simulator, all built on the same game engine.
I have a valve index, I love it but people may not love the wires but that just means you can play hours without charging. But I’m sitting in a racing sim rig and not moving around a room.
well done and not charging all the time
I can't even justify the cost of a VR headset above $400. I use mine primarily for DCS World and a few racing sims. My Quest 2 (with Link, of course) still gives me what I need.
Wait until you see real VR hmds like Varjo Aero or Pimax crystal
@@x32i77 are those $400?
@@StevenRogers-mero909 no 2400$ Varjo Aero and 1780$ for pimax crystal
@@x32i77 yeah I'm sure it's great, but like I said, I'm not going above $400. Lol
If you wanted the smaller set should of gotten Bigscreen Beyond new oled headset also formed for your face with 3d scan u send to them...
Can you review the Pimax headsets? Would make for a great video
YES PLEASE 🙏
Wife has one and I have not tried it yet. She enjoys VR but has had issues with the wireless streaming. I'm trying to talk her into upgrading from the 2070 in her machine but I really just need to install the software into mine with a 3080 to see if that would resolve the issues since the only other difference is 10 Home VS 10 Pro. Still like my Vive Pro with first party wireless even it its clunky because Untethered wireless - However can't put that in an ITX system like I wanted to so its in a Dark Base 700 tower.
I got a PICO4 and I really like it! So much I'll probably never buy this overpriced Vive trash again. You may want to try it too, if you don't have one yet. Didn't expect much from the PICO due to the rather low price tag but boy was I wrong. No stupid ripple lenses, stable wirless connection without additional "antlers" or 3rd party stuff, nearly 100% sweet spot, good FoV, can install any APK on it, works without lighthouses, has two controllers not far behind the great Index controller, works with and without glasses, can just pop on custom made lenses and I can go on... great product and even better with some upgrades like better face panel and extra akkus. And I'm saying all this after having owned quite some VR goggles and having spend a few thousand dollars for these over the years. The PICO4 has still some issues but for me it's a far leap in the right direction and the first time I like being in VR for hours...
6:44 It looks like Jay's eyes are looking at two different things at each side, lmao!
I have a Quest 2 for, mainly, iRacing. I use it ‘virtually’ (🙄) every day. It is awesome. I love it so much. I considered triple screens, but the immersion from VR is unparalleled, imo. I never suffer with motion sickness, thankfully, so that’s probably a major contributing factor. If you are considering VR and can afford it, then I can’t recommend it enough. Just wish the choice was greater and a little less expensive. The chances of prices reducing in this climate is, quite frankly, wishful thinking… such a shame. As a kid playing Jet Set Willy, or Manic Miner on a ZX Spectrum in the early 80’s, or defender on my mates 2600, I could only dream of this technology. As a 54 year old geek, I absolutely love it!
In other words, I like VR…
I've had triple angled screens since 2007, currently got quad 4k's, haven't set up sims properly yet, but just going straight in DCS World or sitting in the car in Assetto Corsa, VR wins so bigly for immersion.
I also have the quest2 but for racing it's awful, I can't stand the resolution. Give me triples, I just use 3x 1080P. The immersion thing is fun though the first time, for about an hour. I haven't touched the quest2 for about a year now. Don't get me wrong though, the whole idea and experience is awesome, the quality is just not there. I need atleast a 5000 series geforce and 8k VR headset to enjoy Assetto Corsa with all the great details enabled that CSP has to offer. Currently my 3080 is barely getting 75fps on a triple screen 1080p setup, but AC is extremely heavy though (I mean, CAN be extremely heavy)
@@stefankoopmans2200 what's the quest2 image Vs reverb g2v2?
@@stefankoopmans2200 though, I'm thinking back to the last time I went karting, I think the track looked like 60P with 32x motion blur and 12x frame tearing.....
@@stefankoopmans2200 I don’t have a ‘mega’ pc, but it’s decent. 5800x3d with a 3070 Ti. I run the Quest 2 at 90Hz with it at full 1.5x. I spent some time tweaking the many different settings (using guides on YT) and it looks great and locked at 90fps for nearly every track. Slight drops when starting with a grid of 30 cars or above. The image quality isn’t as good as a G2 by all accounts, but it’s streets ahead of the CV2, which I had years ago. I know what you mean about the resolution, but tbh, when I’m in a racing battle, I don’t really notice the lack of eye candy. I’m ‘there’ in the race. The immersion trumps graphics every time for me. But everyone’s different. I’d love to see a Varejo Aero. Bet that’s stunning!?
I read, "I feel like I got ripped off ." I saw the pic and laughed, first thing that came to mind was, and you look like you got ripped off. That was too funny lol! Had to watch the video after that lol.
The built in correction lenses are always spherical (myopic/hyperopic correction). If you got more than +/-6.0 dpt, you‘d have to wear glasses and same in case of astigmatism which needs cylindrical lenses for correction. This is a general problem for all optics (e.g. rifle scopes, binoculars,..). Yeah, this is sad, but for a large demographic group, this still isn‘t satisfyingly useable… btw, as I saw, the ring goes from 0-6, but it doesn‘t say if + or -? So it is only for short OR farsighted people, not both (in more sophisticated optics you get +6…0…-6 for example.) This is even worse then….let alone the very poor ergonomics of the frame….
Exactly my thoughts... Cylinder customers are OUT. And if you need the Opposite of either +/- you're also OUT.
Also, if it's just for basic +/- dpt changes, then those lenses can be quite inexpensive both as 'off the shelf' glasses (ie get a different style pair than you would normally wear to suit purely VR use, or even hack up to mount on headset) or clip-on lenses. I paid less than £20 for a pair of lenses to fit my Quest 2 (luckily my astigmatism is just one eye and very slight so not a massive issue), and one of my friends paid only a little more for a very basic pair of prescription glasses which he has fashioned into something similar.
Sure, it's a feature for convenience/ux reasons, but for someone spending that much on a headset, it feels a bit of a half measure.
@@NFMorley My EDC glasses for astig are 150$+ (no fashion brand of anything, just great glasswork). So ofc i'd prefer OTG (over the glasses) goggles.
I haven't seen any great VR implementations yet, closest is Sony, but those are platform locked.
And I wouldn't be able to afford VR anyways ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Especially overpriced low quality plastic landfill :))
Oh Jay! Speaking of small VR headsets, have you seen the Bigscreen one? ThrillSeeker and i think VR Oasis have done videos on it.
I just got into VR with the PlayStation VR2 and loving it righr now. No motion sickness at all.
Been a great experience
I'm still really f-cked with the VR sickness. Is hardcore sometimes, I got a friend that almost puke.
When you said I'm looking forward to the day this is VR and held up your glasses. I am with you my friend in that boat.
love it when you guys cover VR, especially sim racing VR as imo its the only true next gen gaming experience out there, the immersion you get from the wheel force feedback combined with the stereoscopic 3D & headtracking is second to none & thats just entry level, im not even a car guy but the second i tried it i was hooked
"1000$ for VR is expensive" meanwhile a phone can cost just as much if not more and everyone still buys them (some people even buy a new one every year)
Personally, I'm excited for the Bigscreen Beyond headset. If small form factor is what you are looking for, well the Beyond certainly deliver on that front. Specs-wise they are also top notch, just have to wait and see how the launch goes.
I am more excited for Pimax crystal because the fov on the big screen beyond isn't immersive
yup, got mine ordered + audio strap.
Except the FOV sucks shit, the refresh rate is mediocre, it's wired tethered only (fucking barf) and the already super high price doesn't including tracking or controllers. (All in w/ SteamVR 2.0 base stations + Knuckles it's nearly $2000.... 😑). IMO the only people the Beyond really makes sense for are the diehard social VR obsessives, who will likely find it REVELATORY simply due to the size & weight when spending ≈4+ hours in VR at a time. Think the people that basically live in VRChat. For everyone else they should just wait for Quest 3 later this year which will be a VASTLY better VR headset for most normal people.
@@Cooe. how do you like the Pimax crystal
@@x32i77 I wouldn't personally buy ANYTHING from Pimax. 🤷 They have the worst execution track record, build quality, and customer service in the entire XR industry, and it's not even CLOSE.
Again, I'd wait for Quest 3 before buying anything because just like Quest 2 before it, it is HIGHLY likely to make a number of vastly more expensive headsets basically redundant on release.
meanwhile, I paid almost half that in Canadian funds for the Rift S, and while the refresh rate is at the minimum for VR, I find it fine. Works just as well as the HTC Vive I tried at a VR Cafe.
To me VR is the most incredible thing in years and years. It's subjective but the feeling of immersion you can get is second to none and when the experience is good there is nothing quite like it. Not only for racing sims (I could never play a racing game without VR again after seeing how amazing it is inside a headset) but for everything else too.
Off topic big guy, Cooling,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, what if you put 20 glass + containers in front of the intake would it bring down the temp.
Phil's laugh is always a golden moment. Such a full-hearted laugh
@8:00 what are they like for movies ? my 3d projector died last year and can not decide if i should buy a new one or not , and liking idea that lens can be adjusted to suit eyes
Honestly for me this is the first VR headset that I am truly interested in. I need to wear glasses be able to see so having the adjustment has me very intrigued I cannot wait for the review.
you can get prescription lens inserts that just clip in to place for most headsets now. while it's great to see some built in options for this headset i doubt it would cater for my astigmatism. so please don't feel like this is the only headset you could use
Want Jay to try on Valve Index and its controllers as a comparison (yes its not a standalone)
and for smallest amount of light bleeding = Bigscreen Beyond headset
Index controllers are great for being able to track your fingers, but man do they suck from poor quality. Valve should be ashamed, at least they're good on RMAs, but still such a huge hassle.
We love VR, don't we folks?
No , makes me feel vomity .
only in beatsaber or Elite dangerous.
@@salemas5 gah I can't wait to get me a vr set up for E.D.
Only for like....3 games lol
@@gazzertrn need to stretch those VR legs took me a week. Still can’t do driving games though.
Dial to setup lenses to prescription is a cool feature. I hope everyone will do this for VR headsets
I’m no fan of the Vive headset, but Christ what a pointless video… what about the using the thing?
Man literally said within the first 2 mins “so realistically this video today is just gonna be an unboxing and first look at what you get.”
VR in my options needs to focus on much wider FOV technology that can be put into a compact headset. Make it affordable, high res and totally wireless then you have my attention. Wishful thinking I know.
thats the dream. batteries are heavy though...
Yeah, no. I have a Reverb G2 and I'm quite happy with it. Stand-alone seems like a great concept, but I don't like the idea of a battery of that size being strapped to the back of my head. Failures are quite rare, I understand - but that's just something that still doesn't sound like a very good idea. At the very least, I'd like to see how they fail under various conditions, just to see if they bothered at all to engineer around the scenario. Until then, I'd much rather have a slightly larger and longer-lasting battery included that clips to your belt, and runs a short tethered cable to the headset. Maybe even have a slightly more powerful processing unit located in the belt-pack while they're at it - which will help reduce the weight of the headset even further too.
I have the hp g2 as well and love it.
I'm waiting for the day when VR will be like in "Ready player one" movie.....only then we can immersive ourselves, till then i go fishing on sea.....
13:49 "You look like a stupid scuba diver."
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm sticking with my Rift S until it dies entirely. Steam VR beta builds and Oculus beta updates have stabilized my VR experience for Assetto Corsa. I've also made sure that Steam is the default OpenXR software solution.
6:43 jay as a bug nahhhhhh , jay with steampunk welding googles yessssss
I have heard good things about the Pico headsets having great visuals and weight distribution. I have no clue why they just don't sell in north america. Either way rumor has it that the Quest3 will be announced this year, but with Zuck's move away from VR to the "new hotness" that is AI... who knows
psvr2 is the only one i've found truely immersed without light bleed and only limited screen door effect on the outside. htc was just frustrating to get working after multiple updates and 3 cables going back to the PC lol but yeah i'd hope for more.
Jay: "I only wear glasses because it looks good on camera"....
They only have adjustment for positive diopter? Or are those numbers meaningless? I have a -2 diopter.
The main issue with the quest is software, not hardware.
Love this stuff, I had my nearly 3 year old grandson watch some VR content of fish using my quest 2. It was so cool to see him processing what he was seeing combined with still hearing me. "Papa! fishies!!!" Where? him pointing all over.
Have tried alot of headsets, working in the XR business, and have the most of the headsets for development and testing.
The Oculus Pro is actually way better in almost all aspects. Better passthrogh, better weight distribution, better hand tracking, better controls.
The HTC is actually much worse then the Pico 4 in alot of things and that headset is half the price!
For personal use i would actually chose the Pico 4.
have you looked into the bigscreen beyond? they're basically the size of swim goggles.. downside is they're basically fitted to 1 person
Why do the lens adjustments go from 0 to 6? What about people with negative correction?
looks like the back piece is upside down.. plug on top ??? changes the angle of the rear rest aswell
In past I trained on use of full face respirators and you could not use your eye glass with them as "You need full seal" So the respirator had some think akin to rubber O ring that you used to add a set of persecution lenses into which was on inside. The rubber ring would hold the lenses in place so all VR kit need is some thing like this and not that costly add to headset. Then all you then need to get is set of persecution lenses that are sized to fit.
Lens inserts for various headsets already exist, and are a must if you're a glasses wearer.
@@khaledassaf6356 I not look to close at VR head sets as got a both a bad back and neck so they unknow to me but thank you for letting me know
@@jamesgodfrey1322 I'm sorry to hear that, man. I hope your back and neck eventually get better!
@@khaledassaf6356 life is life i in my 50's and In effect the shock absorber (Intervertebral Discs) have started to fail so no fast turn of head or twisting of the back so VR is out and not real look at for gaming but "thank you for kind comment" Gaming for me is nice big display screen and soft chair with good back support, keyboard and mouse and over the year computer gaming has been lot fun and still is from Elite on BBC and fallout 1 PC to AAA game of today which are akin to science fiction compared to early games late 80's
How dare you put these on and not say "The power of the Sun in palm of my hands."
Rule of thumb in the UK...If a wearable makes you look like a twxt, it's pile of sh:te. Rules holds well here...Costs need to lower for tech to improve. With VR we always feel like we're another five years away.
cool to see a big youtuber covering vr, i hope the review will be solid.
already liked the foot notes that it does not has a displayport connection, because that's something people like to know^^
As a UK user of VR I run a Vive pro2 (not that many out there) with a 4090.. I use it for MSFS what I want to see is a Retailer a comparison between all the different Makes and Models with the Flight sims fidelity and smoothness are king but its a wing and a prayer when you change your headset
For people experienced with VR light blockers are not a big issue, there is a reason most Quest Pro users don't use light blockers
It would actually be great to have small VR Tests for GPUs from you too, as there are so little of them it feels like.
☝🏼 This!!! Moar VR hardware and system/GPU reviews.
CPUs as well. 5800x3D was meant to have an edge in VR, but I could never find a review that benched it in VR
While it's not perfect, I still like my Valve Index. I have a custom face gasket for comfort. I have custom lenses which match my prescription, so I don't have to use glasses. And it also runs on Linux, which is my chosen main OS.
VR content on your channel! Nice, thanks for venturing into the Immersive realm for a bit!
I could barely afford a Quest 2. Loving it so far. F1 22 in VR is worth it
Was hoping you would use it in this video too. I recently tried it at an event and the form factor and mixed reality was the two best features. I love the idea the headset alone weighs 270g but obviously that’s without any power/battery. Like Jay said one day you want VR to be like a pair of glasses. The cost killed my interest. I want an all in one XR headset and comfort is very subjective. The Quest Pro is known as one of the most uncomfortable/comfortable headsets in VR due to the lack of adjustability in the front pad. It can literally strangle a users forehead but I personally enjoy it. Barely use it though. Anyway, great video from you guys as always and looking forward to what Apple offers
I like that a prescription adjustment was built into these. It looked like they only adjusted one way in this video though. Do they cover negative or positive prescriptions? Thanks
Thanks for sharing this insight - extreme nearsightedness is prevalent in my family (-6 at the milder end of the spectrum), I'm always looking for ways to make the glasses experience more comfortable with gaming as a result.
It's a shame that the correction isn't closer to what I or my family would need, but it is still a positive to see that some accommodation is being attempted for those who are visually impaired.
Jay, you need to get ahold of someone at bigscreen, the new bigscreen VR allows prescription lenses and its way smaller and lighter, and while its only tethered, it should be perfect for your use case as a PC racer, as that is my main use for VR as well... keep the VR stuff coming, really enjoying it!
Yeah I use and index still waiting on a index 2 but vr titles have seemling died not much coming in, in the way of vr titles sadly
For racing and flight sims I love my Reverb G2. 3100x3100 (approx) res per eye.
Only downside is LCD and not OLED so blacks can be a bit bright for some.
Is there no HMD that is just a 3d big screen monitor you can wear on your head and not a VR or AR? All I want is a high rez virtual display of 100" at 6-10 ft or similar to get a private home movie/game display that do not require 1/3 of my living room, does that even exist and am I the only one that want one?
FIrst time poster, long time watcher. Jay, Love, love, love your content keep up the great work. Any who, I was just talking to my wife about taking the VR plunge, and this WAS a major contender. You just saved me some money. Thanks again for the great content.
why not use the Bigscreen VR. its small and integrated with your prescriptions.
I would like to know what the best VR headset is. I don't want to touch oculus because the facebook integration being required is BS. I just want it tied to steam.
I was in the moment that you mentioned adjustment for prescription lenses....then right back out when I saw the max setting on the dial is 6.
As someone who only does combat flight sims with VR (original Rift) like DCS, I’m waiting on better resolution and refresh rate along with more wide VR headsets like PiMax.
For analogue aircraft, like the F-14, it’s hard to read the analogue gauges.
The wide angle lense would also be closer to real life field of view and would allow me to see what’s behind me w/o breaking my neck. Right now, it’s like looking through a ski mask with blinders on both sides.
Also, some of these head sets really need active cooling. Fogging as another issue along with dealing with the inevitable sweat resulting from the headset’s heat.
Right now, TrackIR is still what I prefer using in most cases.
Don't know how I will use other VR headsets since I myself have a Quest 2 and it works with my glasses and doesn't touch the lenses which from what I hear is a rare thing in VR headsets. Also despite the lens correction, 6 isn't the same as -6. Granted for me that number would have to be a -11(yes I'm blind). Even aftermarket lens covers only go to -10....
lel dat phil wearing da housing make him insta like minions
good humour there, thumbs up man!
The adjustment for the lenses is a huge selling point!